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Start Healthy, Stay Healthy Nutrition Guide
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Healthy Eating

Help your older baby get the fruits and vegetables she needs

Help your older baby get 5-a-day

Fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. Let the colors of the rainbow be your guide for bringing a variety of nutrients into your baby’s diet. Nutrition experts recommend five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day for older babies.

Why so many servings?

Fruits and vegetables provide your growing baby with essential nutrients such as:

  • Vitamin A (from beta carotene), a protective antioxidant that helps support a healthy immune system. In addition, vitamin A is an important nutrient for healthy vision and cell growth throughout the body.
  • Vitamin C, a protective antioxidant which is an essential building block of your baby’s natural defense system. Vitamin C also helps keep gums healthy and can help absorb iron when eaten with iron-rich foods such as infant cereal.
  • Potassium for maintaining the fluid balance in your baby's body.
  • Phytonutrients (such as beta-carotene and lycopene) promote health in a number of ways scientists are still discovering.

Reach that five-a-day goal with your older baby

Try these tips:

  1. The order in which you introduce fruits and vegetables doesn’t matter. You may want to try some of the traditional favorites first: applesauce, bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes.
  2. Offer new flavors along with familiar favorites. It may take several tries before your baby learns to like some fruits and vegetables.
  3. Respect your child's personal preferences. No one fruit or vegetable is going to make or break your child's diet.
  4. Let the colors of the rainbow be your guide each day. The more variety, the better!

Print the PDF below for important nutrients your older baby needs and find out what foods supply them:

Print PDF

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